The Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (SouthernDefenders) convened its Extra-Ordinary General Assembly (EGA) on 17 and 18 November 2025 in South Africa. Delegates from Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, eSwatini, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe participated, alongside representatives from the...
AfricanDefenders and its network members and partners are deeply concerned and disturbed by recent news of the unjustifiable imposition of a restriction on the Network of Human Rights Defenders in Central Africa (REDHAC) to operate throughout Cameroon. AfricanDefenders and all its member networks believe this...
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In a first for the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (Southern Defenders), the 2021 Southern Defenders two-day annual summit was hosted in a city outside its headquarters in Johannesburg and was taken to the capital city of Mozambique, Maputo. The Southern Defenders in partnership...
Political activism has long been suppressed in the Kingdom of Eswatini through the implementation of repressive laws and the normalization of police brutality in response to protests. In recent months these factors have led to the killing and brutalization of the people of Eswatini whose...
In line with the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Election Guidelines, the Southern Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (Southern Defenders) has deployed an Election Observation Mission (the Mission) to observe the general elections scheduled to take...
